Mezzo soprano Megan Kahts, born in South Africa, was trained at the University for Music and Performing Arts Vienna, where she has been based since 2009. She sings internationally, specialising in the performance of Early and Contemporary music and has won coveted prizes in prestigious competitions. She is both a stage animal and a chamber musician at heart, having begun her musical training as a pianist and having embarked on a childhood singing career as a teenager in South Africa before honing her skills at the heart of the classical music tradition in Europe. The Carestini Ensemble Wien was formed by Megan Kahts out of musician colleagues with whom she has closely worked on various baroque opera and chamber music projects. The ensemble mainly specialises in works composed in the eighteenth century. Handel, Hasse, Gluck, Caldara and other composers composed parts and roles for the voice of the castrato Giovanni Carestini, after whose spirit the ensemble is named. All members of the ensemble are based in Vienna and specialised in Historical Performance Practice, performing on historical instruments.